CHOCOLATE
ALLIANCE
AWARDS

Chloé Doutre-Roussel

Chairperson

Chloé Doutre-Roussel is an author, consultant, educator, and internationally recognized expert with more than 35 years of experience in fine cacao and chocolate. A former buyer at Fortnum and Mason, shop manager at Ladurée, author of The Chocolate Connoisseur, and creator of Chloe Chocolat in Paris, she has also worked with El Ceibo, a cooperative of cocoa farmers in Bolivia, to launch a vertically integrated tree to bar to bonbon brand. Chloe is a regular juror at the Academy of Chocolate Awards (AOC) and at the Northwest Chocolate Festival. She is member of honor of the AOC, founding member of the Academia del Chocolate of Ecuador, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA).

Ruth Kenison

Jess Tupper

The Dessert Geek

Bill Fredericks

Chocolate Man

Jessica Ferraro

Bar Cacao

Sarah Wiener

Good Food Foundation

Esther Bobbin

Megan Giller

Chocolate Noise

Megan Giller is a food writer and the author of Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Slate, Zagat, and Food & Wine, and her blog Chocolate Noise was a 2016 Saveur Food Blog Awards finalist. She also hosts luxury chocolate-tasting events, teaches classes at the Institute of Culinary Education and other locales, and judges at chocolate competitions. Follow her on Instagram at @chocolatenoise.

Lawrence Nussbaum

Michael Recchiuti

Recchiuti Confections

Karen Neugebauer

Forte Chocolates

Master Chocolatier, Karen Neugebauer is a true Artisan who is at the forefront of the Seattle artisan chocolate scene. She believes in the philosophy that to celebrate chocolate is to celebrate life which led her to follow a true artisan mindset — crafting every piece by hand. Her passion for the craft and cunningly balanced flavor profiles have led to earning numerous awards and being ranked among the world’s best chocolatiers.

Aaron Barthel

Intrigue Chocolate Co.

Aaron Barthel is a artisanal chocolate maker, specializing in fresh, handcrafted truffles that celebrate the discovery of new flavors. Good food was everywhere growing up, from his childhood on a dairy farm in rural Minnesota, to earning a degree in Ecology/Botany at Saint John’s University, a short career as a bread baker on the shores of beautiful Lake Superior, and nine months spent volunteering at a small micro-brewery. Full of bread and beer, Aaron packed his bumbershoot and moved to Seattle, where he helped some friends start a catering business with a social ethic. They needed a dessert item that had an extra special, so Aaron started dabbling in an old hobby again: making dark chocolate ganache truffles. They were a hit. Aaron took his experience and founded Intrigue Chocolate Co. with a soft launch in 2005 and full steam in 2006 Since then he’s created over 350 different dark chocolate truffles, such as the popular Basil, Mocha, Bourbon & Vanilla Bean, Cacao Nib infusion, and signature Jamaican Hot Chocolate flavors. You can find them around Seattle being paired with local wines, tea, coffee, beers, and craft liquors.